Elections spice up When House Speaker Calvin Say and Senate President Robert Bunda gavel the House and Senate to order tomorrow, it signals more than the beginning of the second half of the 21st Legislature; the pair will also set off the beginning of the 2002 election season.
Legislature’s agenda
Lawmakers' actions
HSTA's blueprint for success
will set the tone for the
year's political debateBy Richard Borreca
rborreca@starbulletin.comLawmakers know that what they do on the budget, the schools and the economy will be judged when voters go to the polls this fall.
Because of reapportionment, for the first time in a decade, all 76 members of the Legislature will be up for re-election. And the governor and lieutenant governor will also be up. Because of term limits, Gov. Ben Cayetano cannot run for another term.
Many expect 2002 to be the best chance in decades for the Hawaii minority Republican Party. Sen. Sam Slom (R, Hawaii Kai) says the state economy, wracked with recession and hurting from the faltering Japanese economy, may help the GOP.
"The question is, Which political party do you believe will be able to do the best job on a diversified economy? Most people will say that's the Republicans," Slom said.
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Speaker Say said he thinks the Democrats will come out on top in the elections, although he notes that the lean state budget precludes much of the usual election-year spending."It will be difficult because I don't have the resources or finances for each of the members of the state House," Say said.
"But I think the Democratic Party will coalesce around the House in this election," Say predicted.
"We are going to have to deal with the budget," said Sen. Colleen Hanabusa (D, Waianae), Senate vice president.
"Everyone is saying the Democrats are going to have a very difficult time," Hanabusa said. "Democrats are judged differently because we are the incumbent and we are the majority party."
She predicts that balancing the budget will be difficult, with the state's surplus nearly erased by the drop in tourism-related tax dollars.
She and state House leaders are predicting that the Legislature will have to cancel many of the state's 200 special funds and use the surpluses for the budget. Special funds were set up to squirrel money away for special programs and projects, with the money not counted in the state's general fund.
If voters are looking for help on the economy and education, Hawaii public employee unions are hoping to get back some of the pro-labor laws that the Legislature erased last year.
The Hawaii Government Employees Association noted in its latest membership bulletin that "it's a whole different political world out there. ... We saw people we thought of as our friends turn against us. Public employees became the victims of last-minute maneuverings and fearful politicians."
But both legislative leaders, Say and Bunda, doubt that the Legislature will go back on its public unions reforms. For instance, last year the Legislature restored the public unions' right to strike and did away with binding arbitration, which Gov. Cayetano had criticized as a pro-union way of settling wages.
"I don't think we would want to overturn what we did last year," Bunda said.
"When the unions were created, one of the major foundations was the right to strike. I am not entertaining anything as far as going back to binding arbitration," Say promised.
Although it has long been offered as a way out of the state's financial dilemma, gambling does not appear to be attracting enough support to clear the Legislature this year.
Say said he doubts it there are enough votes in the House Judiciary Committee to move a bill legalizing gambling. Bunda said he will push for some way to put the question before the voters this fall, but even that, he said, may not be possible.
"Gambling is just an issue that for the most part, legislators don't feel should keep us occupied for the whole session," Bunda said.
When: 10 a.m. tomorrow at the state Capitol 2002 Legislature
Who: 25 state senators led by Senate President Robert Bunda (D, Wahiawa) and 51 state representatives led by House Speaker Calvin Say (D, Palolo). (Democrats control both Houses.)
Top issue: A $315 million state budget shortfall this fiscal year
Length: 60 days, Jan. 16 to May 2
Online: www.capitol.hawaii.gov
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Roosevelt High School senior Trevor Tamashiro has heard it all when it comes to improving his public education. HSTA’s blueprint
for success includes
taking tougher stanceBy Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.com"As far as I can remember, it's been talk, talk," he said. "The most action I've seen is like the strike this past year."
Tamashiro said he hopes the details he heard yesterday of the Hawaii State Teachers Association's "A Blueprint for Public Education" will result in action instead of rhetoric.
"There's a lot that can be improved upon," he said. "I just hope ... it would get a lot better. It's a nice place, Hawaii, so if the education is better, then more things will come for the kids, too."
From establishing dedicated funding sources, including a tax increase, for public education, to giving the Board of Education power to generate revenue for schools, to giving the Department of Education more autonomy, the union representing 13,000 public school teachers said it is no longer business as usual in doing what is best for public education.
"The single most effective way to begin changing this for the better, to attract the kind of jobs and careers we want in our state, is to invest in public education now," HSTA President Karen Ginoza said. "It won't happen overnight, but unless we make this investment and make it now, it won't happen at all."
Ginoza, who unveiled the union's plans yesterday in a classroom at Roosevelt, said the economy and education will be at the top of the Legislature's agenda as it opens.
"Quality public education in Hawaii is an economic issue," Ginoza said.
And the union's blueprint, which advocates a properly funded school system, qualified teachers in every classroom, safe schools and high standards, will dictate its agenda both at the Legislature and with political endorsements as the HSTA looks for candidates who support its plan.
"We will no longer be a party to the agendas of others," she said.
The union's stance differs from bipartisan proposals floating around at the Legislature this year to eliminate the BOE from governance of the public schools.
"They're saying that they want the Board of Education to be dismantled," Ginoza said. "Our concern is that the people of this state have continually said they want an elected school board. How are you going to go against the will of the people? ... They want the voice of the people. How do we give them the power?"
But the union also supports school-level decision-making and more resources to make that stronger, Ginoza said.
Ginoza suggested, however, that it may not be easy to get a tax increase through the Legislature during an election year.
"What is really important to understand is that the blueprint plan is a long-range plan for HSTA," Ginoza said. "It's not just a short-term for this legislative session."
Ginoza said a priority this session will be to fight to keep HSTA's health plan intact.
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